Grandducky
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Ducky babysits the DiNozzo, McGee, and Palmer kids for a night. December 2019. Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.


Grandducky

 _Ducky babysits Tali, Anthony, John and Katie, Tori, and Charles while the parents are at the NCIS Christmas Charity Ball; December 2019._

Tony and Tim finished setting up the play tent in Ducky's guest room just as Breena called them all to dinner. "Do you think the kids will sleep in here?" Tim asked Tony for the umpteenth time.

"Trust me, McDaddy, they will," Tony reassured his brother. "Tali and Anthony will have them all in there in no time!" Tony knew his two would be the first ones in the tent, since it belonged to them. Katie and John often played in the tent with their cousins. Tori had played in the tent with Tali when she spent the night in the summer.

The family sat to eat the meal at Ducky's extended dining table. Tali and Tori were chatting about the upcoming overnight stay at Grandducky's condo. All the kids would be staying with Ducky for the night while their parents, Gibbs, Abby and others attended the NCIS Charity Ball. Ducky, as Chief Medical Examiner Emeritus had been extended a guest of honor invitation, but he had declined, saying that he was getting too old for such frivolities and that the younger people would only be able to attend if he took the grandchildren for the night. Then he had winked at Leon and SecNav, "No offense, but I would much rather spend the evening in the company of the six most wonderful grandchildren in the world!"

On the day of the Ball, each family arrived at Ducky's condo around 1530. Tony, Tim and Jimmy all had on tuxes for the event with cummerbunds to match their respective spouses. The McGees had chosen blue for Dee's dress and Tim's accent colors. Ducky helped John and Katie inside and Tim put their bags in the guest room. After Ducky complimented Dee and Tim on "looking dapper," the Palmer family came in the front door.

Jimmy and Breena were coordinated in pinks. Tori hugged Grandducky and put her backpack in the guest room. Breena carried Charles' bag into Ducky's room as Jimmy set up the portable crib. Tim and Dee were heading out of Ducky's driveway as the DiNozzo minivan pulled in. They waved to the others and headed to Annapolis.

Tali and Anthony ran to the front door, excited to spend the night with their cousins. Ziva moved carefully out of the passenger side of the van. She was in a maroon two piece dress that fit over her rather large baby bump. Tony's tie and cummerbund matched the maroon dress. Ziva had commented several times that she would much rather stay with Ducky and the kids.

Tony carried the kids' bags to the door and went back to help Ziva navigate the walkway. "Remind me not to have twins again," Ziva joked. "Or else YOU will have to carry them next time!"

Ducky welcomed the DiNozzos inside; Tali and Anthony ran into the living room to find their cousins. Breena hugged Ziva as Jimmy came out to the main area. "Crib's set up," he remarked. "Let's go!"

Breena and Ziva hugged their kids and admonished them to be good for Grandducky. The kids nodded and ran back to the new books that Ducky had bought for them. The parents got into their respective vehicles and headed to Annapolis.

Ducky turned to watch the children playing and looking at the books. Charles was pulling play dishes and food out of the pretend kitchen while Tali, Tori and Katie were absorbed in the books. The girls were showing each other the colorful pictures in the various books. John and Anthony were taking the wooden cars, trucks and blocks out of the bin. Most of the toys at Ducky's had been hand made by Gibbs. Ducky smiled to himself; he had never thought he would be a grandfather, so being a surrogate "Grandducky" to these six was a wonderful consequence of being part of the extended NCIS family.

Tali held up one of the books, "Grandducky, will you read this to us? I can read some of it, but not all the words." She showed him the book she had picked, _Twelve Days O Christmas_. Tori held up the largest of the books, _An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales_ , "This one too, please!"

Anthony looked up from the trucks he was moving along the carpet. He spotted a DVD case on the coffee table. "Is this for us?" he asked when he saw the cartoon figures on the cover.

"Yes, _Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol_ tells a classic tale," Ducky replied. "We will watch that after dinner. Anthony and Talia, I would dare say that your Abba has seen it."

Ducky sat down on his recliner and motioned for the children to sit at his feet. He started reading _Twelve Days O Christmas_ to them, showing the six kids the colorful illustrations as he read. Charles got bored sitting on the floor and climbed n Ducky's lap as the old doctor read.

They were just about done with the book when Anthony announced that he was hungry. Ducky looked at the clock on the mantle. It was 1730, so no surprise that the wee ones were hungry. "Come, let's get you all properly fed," Ducky picked up Charles and motioned for the others to follow. He put the little boy in his high chair as the other five climbed into booster seats around the dining room table.

Ducky took the meals that each set of parents had prepared from the refrigerator. Breena had made a plate of vegetables, cheese, and cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces for both of her children. Ducky handed Tori her plate and a napkin. He put Charles' plate on the high chair tray. John and Katie had macaroni and cheese with mini hotdogs that needed to be warmed in the microwave. Ducky put the two dishes on the table for the McGee twins and then put Tali and Anthony's plates of lasagna and garlic bread in the microwave. Once the DiNozzos were served, he took his own plate of lasagna that Ziva had prepared for him to have for dinner to the head of the table. Tali had helped by setting out each child's lidded cup of milk while the meals were heating.

"Grandducky?" Anthony stopped inhaling his food for a minute.

"Yes, Anthony?"

"This lasagna is very good; it tastes just like Ima's!" Ducky smiled at the little boy as he continued, "You can make lasagna any time!"

Tori had been quiet during the meal. She finished her dinner and sighed. She looked up at the others and then at Grandducky.

"Do you have something on your mind, Victoria?" Ducky asked gently.

Tori nodded, "We read a story at preschool about a Mama duck and her babies. They were called ducklings. The Mama duck had to pretend to be hurt to keep the bad fox away from the ducklings."

Ducky knew of the story she mentioned. "The mother duck was very brave, but she protected her babies."

"Yeah, but what I want to know, since you are Grandducky, are we your ducklings?"

Ducky felt a tear forming in his eye as he replied, "Well, yes, of course you are my six little ducklings! And when Talia and Anthony's sisters are born, there will be eight ducklings." He checked that each child had finished dinner. "Who would like some of Aunt Abigail's chocolate chip cookies?"

"ME!" chorused all of the kids. All six eagerly awaited the two cookies that Ducky placed in front of each one. Charles picked up a cookie in each hand, grinning.

Thirty minutes later, the dishes were in the dishwasher, the kids were cleaned up from the meal and Charles was ready for a diaper change. Ducky told the kids to play while he changed the toddler. Tali and Tori decided they should play hide and seek. "I'll count, you hide," Tali told the others and began counting. Kids scattered about the living room, dining room and hallways. "Ready or not, here I come!"

Tali found Katie behind Ducky's recliner; then she saw John under the coffee table. Anthony was hiding by the large plant in Ducky's foyer and Tori had hidden behind the vertical blinds over the deck door. Ducky came back from his bedroom with Charles. "Grandducky, you be it and we will hide!" Tori suggested.

"Hide and go seek was a favorite game when I was a lad. One, two, three," Ducky started counting as the children ran in to various rooms. "Ninety nine, one hundred. Ready or not, here we come!" Ducky took Charles' hand in his. "Help me find the ducklings, Master Charles."

The duo looked in the living room, with Charles looking under the coffee table when Ducky asked. No one was in sight. Ducky spotted feet behind the vertical blinds, "Shh, Charles. Let's tiptoe over to the deck door and see if anyone is there." The duo walked quietly to the exit to the deck and Ducky stopped in front of the barely visible feet. "I wonder if someone lost her feet."

Katie giggled at Grandducky's silly words. "I hear someone giggling," Ducky declared. "I wonder who it could be?"

"It's ME!" Katie moved out from behind the vertical blinds laughing. "I didn't lose my feet. See?" She pointed to her socked feet and giggled again.

"Oh, my, it's Princess Caitlyn!" Ducky pretended to be surprised, eliciting another giggle. "Will you help us look for the others?" Katie nodded and followed Grandducky and Charles to the foyer.

Ducky spotted feet again, and pointed to them, "I wonder whose feet are behind my coat?" He moved closer with Katie and Charles following him. He pulled the coat to the side, "Oh, it's Princess Victoria!"

Tori laughed and joined the group seeking the others. Ducky went into his office and looked around. At first he didn't think anyone had hidden in there, but then he spied toes in purple socks under the middle section of his desk behind the chair.

"Oh, dear, someone has left purple socks under my desk!" he exclaimed loudly. "But they look too small to be mine. I wonder to whom they belong! It has to be…"

"Tali!" Katie had stooped down to look and spotted her cousin crouched in the foot well of the desk. Tali crawled out from under the desk.

"A very good hiding place, Princess Talia!" Ducky smiled at his eldest duckling. "We only have John and Anthony left to find."

Ducky led the group to the guest bedroom. They all looked around and quickly spotted John's feet sticking out from under the end of the bed. Before Ducky could say anything, Katie went over and tickled her brother's feet.

The blue socked feet moved and laughter was heard from under the bed. "Tickles!"

John came out from under the bed and the whole group went to look for Anthony. They looked in the tent and under the covers on the bed. They went into Ducky's room and looked under the bed. They checked closets, both bathrooms and in the kitchen. Tali and Tori looked behind chairs and plants. John and Charles looked on the floor under the dining room table and under the coffee table and end tables in the living room. Ducky was beginning to worry that the boy had gone outside and checked the front door. The deadbolt was still latched, so he hadn't gone out front. He opened the vertical blinds and looked in the back yard. No Anthony.

"Oh, dear!" Ducky was worried now. "Did any of you see in which direction Anthony headed?" All of the others shook their heads. "Do any of you know where he is? Please tell me if you do."

"No, Grandducky."

"No."

"Nope."

"Oh, my, we seem to have lost Anthony in the house!" Ducky was wondering who he could call to come help look for the young boy. "Let's split up and look in all the rooms again. Talia, you and John look in the guest bedroom and bathroom. Victoria, you and Caitlyn please look in the living room. Charles and I will look in the study and my room."

"Anthony!" Tali called out. "Time to eat!"

"Anthony!" Katie and Tori called. "Where are you?"

Another ten minutes of searching and still no sign of Anthony; Ducky was very worried. Charles got bored with looking and crawled under the dining room table thinking it was time to hide again. He looked up and saw Anthony sleeping on the chairs.

Tori noticed Charles looking at something under the table and got down on the floor. She looked where her brother was looking and saw Anthony. "I see Anthony!" she called out.

"Oh! Where, pray tell?" Ducky was relieved that they had finally located the young lad. Tori pointed to the chairs where Anthony was sleeping. Ducky lifted the table cloth to reveal the now awakening DiNozzo. Anthony looked at the others, not knowing what the fuss was all about.

"I think it is time to watch _Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol_ ," Ducky declared. He moved the children into the living room and placed the disc into the DVD player. He was about to press 'play' when Anthony chimed in.

"Where's the popcorn? We always have popcorn when we watch movies!"

"Stay here please and I will get the bag your parents brought," Ducky hoped the kids would stay put. He didn't want to hunt down any more hidden children tonight, thank you. He returned with the bowls of popcorn that Tony had packed with the other food the DiNozzos had brought with them. He handed each child a large paper towel and placed the bowls on the coffee table. Finally he sat in his recliner and pressed 'play.' Charles climbed into his Grandducky's lap and they watched the fifty three minute video.

Ducky looked over at the five older children as they focused on the story on the DVD. He could see Tim's concentration in both of the McGee twins. Caitlyn looked so much like her father, while John favored his mother in looks. Victoria was all Breena in looks and Jimmy in personality. The DiNozzo children both had Tony's grin and the looks of rapt attention to the film were all their father. Talia was most definitely a miniature version of Ziva except for her eyes. Anthony was a miniature of his father except for the eyes. Little Charles was his father's son in looks and personality. He wondered who the DiNozzo twins would favor. The family would soon meet the newest members; he felt sorry for Ziva with her considerable size gain with the pregnancy. Of all of the "sons" of the extended family, Anthony Junior was the one Ducky had least pictured as a father of girls. But the man had stepped up to the plate as a father and husband. Ducky reflected on how much the former agent had changed over the years; much of that change directly or indirectly associated with Ziva. She too had grown and changed over the years; Anthony had a lot to do with her softening and changing.

As the movie ended, Ducky reminded the children that it was almost time for bed. There were some groans and mumbled complaints, but all of them had quieted and showed signs of nodding off during the show. Even young Anthony with his impromptu nap had started rubbing at his eyes. Charles was just about asleep in his Grandducky's lap. "Time to get pajamas on and brush teeth!"

Ducky carried Charles to his room as the others headed to the guest bedroom. He quickly changed the sleepy toddler into a fresh diaper and a blanket sleeper and put him in the crib. Charles reached up for a hug and then lay down. Ducky figured the little one would be asleep before he came back.

In the guest bedroom and bathroom mayhem reigned. Tali and Tori had changed into pajamas and brushed teeth but the three two-year-olds were playing in the tent. Tali was trying to get Anthony to change and pushed him towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. Tori was already under the covers, her head on a pillow, watching the others sleepily.

"Oh, my!" Ducky exclaimed at the chaos. "John, Caitlyn, come out of the tent and get ready for bed please!"

"NO!" shouted John as his sister moved towards Grandducky. He helped her put on her pajamas and then pointed her in the direction of the bathroom.

"Talia, would you please help Caitlyn with her toothbrush?" Tali nodded as Anthony finished brushing.

Ducky turned to John, who was now standing in the middle of the tent in just his nighttime pull-up pants. "Master John, come out of there now," Ducky said sternly. "You must get ready for bed!"

"NO!" John backed away from Grandducky. "NO BED!"

Anthony moved around Ducky and crawled onto his sleeping bag inside the tent. He put his head on his pillow and looked up at his cousin, "Sleep time, John!"

"NO!"

All of the others were lying down by now and Ducky sighed in exasperation. John definitely had his father's stubbornness! Trying some reverse psychology might just work, so Ducky turned out the light and sat in the armchair.

"Are you going to tell a story, Grandducky?" Tali asked.

"Yes! Many years ago, a very stubborn little boy wanted to stay up all night and play with his toys..." Ducky began. He glanced over at the tent; Anthony had his head on his pillow and John was still standing near the far end. The three girls were under the covers with heads on pillows on the bed. He continued, "When bedtime came round, the little boy yelled and fought and screamed and cried. He did not want to stop playing with his toys. His mother got very angry and told the little boy that he would have no dessert for a week unless he went to bed. So the lad pretended to go to bed, but when his mother shut the door, he bounced right back out of that bed.

"He went to his trains and played with them for a while. Then the boy played with his toy soldiers for a bit. He set up the two armies and had a pretend battle between them. He blew up tanks and soldiers fell on the battlefield. Medics came to take the wounded to the hospital tents. The boy brought in the military ambulance and evacuated the injured to the transport train."

Ducky noticed that all of the girls had their eyes closed, and he was certain Caitlyn and Victoria were asleep. Talia was not far from sleep. He glanced over at Anthony and John in the tent. Anthony was softly snoring but John was sitting on his sleeping bag watching his Grandducky.

"The boy grew weary of playing with the tin soldiers so he took out his blocks and built tall buildings and short buildings and a whole city of towers. Then he knocked them all down and built a castle." Ducky glanced at the tent; John was still sitting but he was starting to hunch over. "He made a drawbridge and a turret for the castle. He got out his knights and horses to put in the castle. The knights had a pretend jousting contest and the red knight won the contest. The blue knight was the last to be defeated. All of the knights congratulated the red knight on his win."

Ducky looked at the tent just as John face-planted on his pillow. He had to suppress a chuckle, and moved to pull the cover of the sleeping bag over the little boy. He softly walked to the door and turned to look at the five children, "Good night, my ducklings. Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"Laila tov, Grandducky," Tali said softly.

In the morning, Ducky was awakened by Charles jumping in the crib; the toddler wanted out. Ducky glanced at the clock by his bedside; 0520! He hoped the others were still asleep. He picked up the little boy and brought him to his own bed and began singing a lullaby to the lad. It was an old Celtic lullaby, _All Through The Night_ , that his grandmother had sung to him so many years ago. Soon, Charles was back to sleep and Ducky closed his eyes and drifted off again himself.

When he next opened his eyes, it was 0735 and Charles was no longer next to him. He pulled on his robe and put his feet into his warm slippers. He went in search of the boy, hoping he wasn't into some sort of trouble. He found the six children playing in the living room quietly. "Good morning!" he called out.

"Yeah! Grandducky is awake! Now we can eat!" Anthony ran over and hugged Grandducky. The others followed behind and Ducky found himself surrounded by hugging ducklings. What a wonderful feeling to wake up to being loved by these six.

"We shall have pancakes, eggs and sausages for breakfast," Ducky informed the group. "Who is hungry?"

"ME!" all six responded as Ducky took out the pre-made pancakes that Ziva had brought. He put them on a baking sheet to heat them in the oven. Next he broke a dozen eggs into a bowl and scrambled them. He poured the eggs into a preheated skillet and stirred slowly as they cooked. He reduced the heat and put a cover on the cooked eggs and placed the sausage links on a plate. He heated them in the microwave. He removed the pancakes from the oven, and the sausages from the microwave. He put some of each food on plates for each of the six and the remaining food on his own plate. Tali and Tori had set out the juice boxes for each kid while Ducky cooked. Tali helped the younger children put the straws into the juice. Ducky served plates to each child.

They finished the meal and Ducky dressed for the day. He sent the children to get dressed while he changed Charles into his jeans and sweatshirt. He had just checked that the others were dressed when the front door opened. Jimmy had come to pick up his two.

"Daddy, we had fun! We played and watched a movie and…," Tori ran to hug her father with Charles trailing behind her. "And Grandducky said that we are his ducklings." Jimmy smiled over her head at Ducky.

"Let me get the crib taken down and then you can tell me all about the fun you had," Jimmy replied. He moved to Ducky's room to fold up the portable crib and put it back into the closet. Charles followed his father. Jimmy finished with the crib and put the last of Charles' things into the overnight bag. He came out into the living room, where Ducky had Tori's bag ready to go. "Tell Grandducky thank you," he asked Tori and Charles.

Tori ran over to Ducky, "Thank you Grandducky. I love you!" She wrapped her arms around the old doctor's neck. Charles squirmed into the hug and put a sloppy kiss on Ducky's cheek.

"You are most welcome!"

A knock at the door was answered by Jimmy; Tony and Tim were standing on the porch. "DiNozzos and McGees, your dads are here!" Jimmy announced as he let his brothers inside.

"Abba!"

"Daddy!"

"Did you all have fun?" Tony asked the kids.

"Yes, and Anthony hided real good," Tori spoke up.

"Anthony gots lost!" John laughed. Tony looked to Ducky for an explanation.

"We played hide and go seek. Young Anthony fell asleep on the chairs in the dining room while we were looking for him," Ducky replied. "It was quite the hunt to find our sleeping lad."

"Abba!" Tali tugged at Tony's coat. "We watched _Mr. McGee's Christmas Carol_." She held up the DVD case for Tony to see.

"Mr. MAGOO, Tali," Tony corrected with a grin on his face. "I used to watch that with my Mom, your Grandmother, when I was your age."

"Okay, everyone, let's tell Grandducky thank you and head home," Tim tried to gather his kids' bags and get them headed out. Each of the kids hugged Grandducky, and then each other.

"Thanks, Duck for watching the kids," Tony smiled at his old friend.

"Any time, Anthony. It was my pleasure." Ducky smiled back; yes, it had been a pleasure indeed to have the six ducklings in one nest for the night.


End file.
